Mintmark & field marks, RIC ID, Rarity, My collection ref. number
ONS LTE O-INRHTIO, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right, legend sometimes off line and the letters I are horizontal - the engraver seems to have been copying ..PARATIO onto the obverse die.
OPIC IOP-AI...PIDO, bare-headed, reaching horseman type.
Mintmark: CTHG / Gin left field
The size (24mm), the G in the field and in the mintmark, the bare-headed, reaching horseman and the fact that H, N and K in mintmarks are often difficult to distinguish on these 4th century coins, leads me to conclude that it was copied from a Cyzikus 92 (SMKG). You can compare the bust to this Cyzicus 92 (DK FT469)
FT987
HHHTHHH-HHHHO, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right, many of the Hs look like retrograde Ns.
..HOH-THT.., horseman with Phrygian helmet, clutching. The soldier is almost horizontal and the two shields (one on the soldiers back, the other behind the horse) are quite ornate with a surrounding of large dots.
Mintmark: (bottom half off flan) appears to read SMHA, so is a barb of Heraclea 65 but with an unlisted officina!.
21.5mm and made of good material.
FT1004
Constantius II. DN CONTATI-IVS.., pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
FEL TEMP-.., Phrygian helmet, clutching. Star in left field.
Mintmark: none
This is with no doubt a copy of Nicomedia 63. If you compare this coin with my example of a genuine issue Nicomedia 63 on the Nicomedia page you will see that the horseman is practically identical. In fact this coin is so well made that it is only the obverse legend which gives it away, otherwise, in size, weight and detail, this could easily have passed as a genuine issue.
FT1151
Many thanks to Jon LaFalce for this one.
Constantius II. ..ONIS EEP, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
..VCN, unclear headwear, reaching backwards.
Mintmark: NOC
A barb of an Arles issue, going by the mintmark which should be _CON.
FT1208
A sweet Xmas present from Jon LaFalce.
Constantius Gallus. DN CHSOHHTNVIIS PHH, bare-headed, draped, cuirassed bust right, H behind head.
HSVTPH-NOHOC, horseman is bare-headed, reaching backwards.
(rounded) m in left field.
Mintmark: _IS
At first glance this looks like an official issue, as it is very well engraved. Just the legend gives it away. It appears to be copying Siscia 133.
FT1193
Many thanks to Jon LaFalce for this one as well!.
Constans. DN CONST-.. pearl diademed head right with long, Aurelian-like neck.
FELLIC TEM-, horseman appears to be bare-headed, reaching backwards
Mintmark: T
No ref for this one, it's a lovely barb and Constans' face under a magnifying glass is very well done.
FT1052
Many thanks to Kelly Zane (Fel Temp Phoenix type collector) for this one.
Constantius. CONSTAN-TIVS AV ATIO, pearl diademed head right.
EL ELI R N CON RANIO, horseman is wearing a Phrygian helmet and is reaching backwards
Mintmark: SHIS
They appear to have used one of their own flans to overstrike - with less than total success - it again. The ATIO on the obverse and the N CON on the reverse seems to suggest this.
FT1098
Found in the UK.
DN COAST-..S AVG (all Ss retrograde), pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
FEL ITM-..ATIO, a very tall horseman on a very small horse, reaching backwards
Mintmark: part of a star or A-crescent-TR dot, with another TR below that.
Because of the crescent, albeit in the wrong place (should be at the end), this barb is comparable with Trier 359.
FT1020
Thanks to Big George for this one.
-STANS F AVG, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
legend off flan, horseman is reaching backwards
Mintmark: FSLS.
The legend is from Constans but the mintmark (imitating FSLG) is from Constantius II. Comparable with Lyons 186 of Constantius II.
FT1103
-CONSTAN..., Constantius II, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
legend off flan, horseman is wearing a Phrygian helmet and reaching backwards.
Mintmark: Off flan.
2 gr. Found at Irchester, Northants, England and returned to finder by the local PAS office.
FT1179
ex Coinmac.com, Northants
-..NOB CAES, bare-headed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
Garbled legend, no field marks, horseman is reaching backwards
Mintmark: off flan
Constantius Gallus barbs are much scarcer than those of Constantius II. This coin was found in England. The lack of a mintmark and fieldmark makes a comparison to an official issue impossible.
FT1130
-..AII, radiate (!), draped, cuirassed bust right.
legend off flan, horseman is bare-headed, reaching backwards
Mintmark: off flan.
There are definite signs of a radiate crown here. No comparable reference because the legend and mintmark are off the tiny flan.
FT1104
DN CONSTA.., bust right, the shape and position of Constantius' nose and jutting chin is similar to those on FT174 further below.
TEMP-..ATIO, the neatly engraved horseman is wearing a Phrygian helmet, and is reaching backwards
Mintmark: off flan
No comparison to a host coin possible, as the mintmark is missing.
FT1019
Thanks for the swap, Gordon !
DN CONS..ES PIIVC, the bust is reminiscent of those of Magnentius on British barbs
TEL TEMP-..ATIO, the horseman appears to be wearing a radiate crown (!), sitting upright and is reaching backwards
Mintmark: ·RT·
The closest to this barb is RIC 272 (no letter behind bust, no dots in mintmark)
FT975
...-PAR.., bare-headed, reaching type horseman, however instead of the spear point, the horseman is holding a small globe. Under a lens, the horse's head is very well engraved.
No mintmark visible, as almost the entire reverse was struck on this half-coin. I'd have loved to have seen the size of the mintmark !
FT1011
DN CONSTAN.., pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
FEL TEMP R-EP.., the horseman is wearing a Phrygian helmet and is sitting halfway down his horse with his right foot pointing right, which I presumes is meant to represent him sitting on the ground facing right.
Mintmark: (T)RS
There is the top of a T to the left of the clear RS in the exergue. This reverse break TEMP R- was used for one single Trier type of Constantius II, Trier 348, which was 22-24 mm in diameter and listed for the mintmark TRP. So the "original" of this barb is very likely RIC VIII Trier 348 (but without the star in the right field)
FT986
IRI TRII-.., Phrygian helmet, reaching horseman
Mintmark: R_ (RB?). If it weren't for the legend on the reverse, one could think this was an official coin. I love the horse's head with it's two little ears.
FT1013
Thanks to Cameron Day (Cerberus Coins) for this one.
A CON.., broad-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
OAE, horseman wearing a Phrygian helmet and is the reaching type. Mintmark is off flan
FT999
FEL T..., horseman is bare-headed and is reaching. There is nothing in the fields and the mintmark appears to begin with AS and so is probably a barbaric imitation of (ASIRM) Sirmium 35.
18mm, found in Essex, England as part of a bronze hoard in November 2008.
FT1001
DN CONSTA·-NS PF AVG, , pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
FEL TEMP-REPARATIO, the soldier is standing upright, the horseman is the reaching type and appears to be bare-headed with one braid.
Mintmark: LTA
There is no official coin on which this was based, because Constans didn't have any of the reaching type made. So if we compare the details of this to those of CII, the closest match would be Antioch 187A (ALEA).
FT981
The obverse legend begins DN CON.. and on the reverse we can see ... PEPA..
The mintmark is mostly off flan but is written in fairly large letters (by the radius of the central letter) and appears to comprise of three letters. The centre letter has a rounded top so is either a wreath or a Q. So it is probably a barb of Aquileia or Rome
horseman is bare-headed, reaching!
FT911
Thanks to Jon LaFalce for this sweet little barb
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
TEMP-REP...
bowl-shaped helmet, reaching
GPLG
Barb of Lyons 189
C5
FT185
All the legends, mintmarks etc are correctly written and it is made of good bronze, but the bust gives it away
The lines on the obverse are some kind of damage or are exaggerated hair lines. Also strange is the sectioned shield on the reverse with an M over a dot. It is a Fel Temp barb of an official issue.
CO...PF..., pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
(legend off flan or none present), horse is standing upright, bare-headed horseman has both arms up, his left arm on a shield in the centre (resting on the horses back), marked M over ·
Mintmark: TRSÈ
Barb of Trier 359
FT940
Obverse is double-struck.
...IIIIII, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right, double-struck
(legend off flan or none present), Soldier is facing right, horseman is wearing a brimmed helmet and is facing left, reaching.
No mintmark visible
Barb of Arles, based on the fact that this mint also issued official coins on which the horseman is wearing a brimmed helmet. This coin is only 9mm in diameter, but has an amazing amount of detail.
FT972
ONT..-HOHTIHI, pearl diadem, draped, cuirassed bust right
FEL TEMA PE-..., horseman has no beard, wears Phrygian helmet, clutching
Mintmark ()()MCO.
The reverse is very well executed so the engraver was a bit of an artist but sadly illiterate.
Barb of Constantinople 106
FT944
DN CONSTA-..., , pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
TLMET-..RONS, bare-headed, reaching
Mintmark: I·L. I think the I· is supposed to represent a P, so this would be a barb copying a Lyons (PLG) coin.
FT915
The obverse legend is pretty correct, starting with DN CONSTA- but it's the lines of the hair which gives it away.
The reverse is quite well executed (except the soldier doesn't have a foot)
The mintmark appears to be (T)SD, so with it being the reaching type of Constantius II, it is a barb copy of Thessalonica 180
FT859
The obverse legend starts off ok with DN CONST but then for the right hand side they got in a bit of a mess, so the letters TS PR VC came out backwards and some even upside down.
They must have been dizzy by the time it came to the reverse, so we get INININ on the left and something like ATOV on the right, Sweet!
The mintmark, supposed to be one of Arles, is also back to front so we get NOC instead of _CON !
FT835
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
DN COSTN-TNS VP NO C
EEL (upside down) L (upside down)EIN (retrograde)-RANTI
bearded, hair in a topknot, reaching
CONSA* / S rotated through 90° in left field.
21mm dia.
This is a pretty well executed barb, although all the Ns are retrograde. The legends, mintmark and fieldmark are a real mixture!
FT687
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right,
DN CONSTA-NTIVS P AV
FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO
pointed cap, reaching
A nice little barbarics with huge "PARATIO" lettering on the reverse - well, it starts off huge but has to get smaller in order to make room for the end of it. The horseman is upright and is simply turning round offering his hand (palm upwards) to the soldier as though he is saying, "Come on, let's shake and be friends".
Constantius's three diadem ties, commonly seen on Arles coins, suggests that this could be a Barb of Arles 266.
14.5 mm
FT850
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right, A behind bust
DN CONSTA-TNS PF AVG
FE(retrograde L) TEMP-...
Mintmark ·NSH
G in left field
Phrygian helmet, reaching
22mm
One of the best made barbarics I have ever seen. On the obverse, the nose, eye, as well as the misspelled name give away its barbaric celator, whilst on the reverse, the retrograde L and the nonsensical mintmark are the only errors. Otherwise the reverse is quite stunning and is better than some from official mints. It isn't a copy of one particular coin, as the only coins with an A behind the bust and a Gamma in the left field of the reverse are Rome 254 which only have 2 letters as mintmarks.
FT563
DN CONSTA-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right, N behind bust
L TEMP RE-...
bare-headed, reaching
Mintmark N II II C
21mm
Another beautiful barbaric. Again the eye gives away its barbaric celator, whilst on the reverse, the missing FE and the nonsensical mintmark are the only errors. It cannot be attributed to be a copy of any particular coin, as the only coins with an N are from Aquileia with a horseman seated on the ground. I wangled this out of Mad Scientist In Training Joe Engebretson and sent him some Swiss diamond-tipped dental attachments for it.
FT565
DN CONSTT-VC PF HVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
...-HRHTIO
bearded, Phrygian helmet, reaching
TCX
I bought this on ebay for a very low price. The seller's photographs weren't all that good and when he emailed me some better ones I knew I had to have it. The "long head look" is very common on barbs.
FT784
DN CONSTA-NS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
EL...-PARATIO
bare-headed, reaching
RT
RIC 272 var.
This is a pretty well executed barb, using the reverse and mintmark of RIC 272 which was never used for Constans
FT666
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
TEMP-REP...
Phrygian helmet, reaching
GPLG
Lyons 189
C5
FT188, barbaric
garbled legend and unclear break
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
ANT in mirror image
Barbaric, The soldiers knee is growing out of his chest and the horse looks like it's wearing a nosebag. And look at Constantius's nose. A fabulously funny face and a great coin
FT174
-S PEiTC
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
PIIHH..reaching
19mm
FT549
Struck on a regular Constantinian follis, as seen from the partial legend of IMP C CONST where the mintmark would be.
DV C..-S PIIIIC
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
..TLID-...
clutching
14mm
FT663
CN3
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
FEL TEMP-PARATIO
Phrygian helmet, reaching
RPLG
16mm
Lyons 196-Barb
FT550
The artwork of this barb is very good, except for the eye and lips. They could never quite get eyes correct and the lips often looked like they'd had silicon treatment. Details of the soldiers clothing and helmet are well executed. The legends are evenly engraved, and correctly spelled, with the only error being on the reverse with the legend FEL TEMP-PARATIO.
off flan
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
TEMP-REP...
Phrygian helmet, reaching, but using a reversed die - Soldier faces right, horse faces right!
illegible
FT128
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
bare-headed, reaching
18mm
FT249
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
_SLG
bare-headed, reaching
12mm
FT757
A barb of Lyons 189
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
bare-headed, reaching
FT108
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
reaching
PLG
Lyons 189
FT130
The lettering is very good and spelling of the legend is correct.
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
..RE-ARA
reaching
FT122
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
reaching
FT121
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
reaching
FT175
TN..TN
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
no mintmark
reaching
FT173
..IIHV..
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
..TN(retrograde)O
reaching
__H
FT200
DN CO...
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
FEL TP...
reaching type
Mintmark: T..
FT125a
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
TEMP-REP...
reaching type
· in centre
FT123
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
TEMP-REP...
reaching type
PLG
FT125b
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
clutching with hands straight forwards
AN_
· left
FT129
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
TEMP-REP...
bare-headed, reaching
illegible / S left
FT239
..P AV
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
bare-headed, reaching
Є
FT197
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
off flan
Phrygian helmet, reaching
__ONS* / M left
Constantinople Barbaric
FT160
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
RE-PARATIO
bearded, bare-headed, reaching
TR
Trier 350 barbaric
FT196